Finders Keepers
by Rory Maria
Summary: After being bullied by Kevin his entire life, Double Dee returned to Peach Creek after a year away seemingly a new person. With his mysterious persona and new swim team status, the former dork had convinced everyone he was a changed man. Everyone except Kevin that is. Had Double Dee really changed, or was he still the dork Kevin used to pick on?
1. Prologue

The last time Kevin talked to Double Dee was the end of freshman year. He'd been walking out of the guidance office with a large pile of books in his arms, like he'd taken his entire locker with him. It's summer, Kevin thought, what a nerd.

The popular boy had his arm slung easily around Nazz's shoulder, and as she paused to kick up a conversation with Rolf and Sarah, Kevin took the time to continue staring at Double Dee. The boy was small, in every way possible. He was short for his age, and bony, like he never heard of the thing called food. His eyes were sunken in, and always flickered between tired and uncaring, to wide and fearful. The kid always twitched too, if Kevin came too close. The thought made Kevin smile slightly, he liked the idea of people being scared of him. He liked that power.

Suddenly, while Kevin's eyes were still glued to the dork, Double Dee began to walk, and somehow managed to trip over his own feet. Almost immediately Kevin burst out laughing, ripping his arm away from Nazz's shoulder as he clenched his stomach in fits of laughter. He vaguely heard the sound of sniffling.

"Kevin," Nazz scolded in a sharp tone as she walked over to Double Dee, in attempt to help him gather his things. Kevin frowned.

"Come on Nazz, don't help him! He's nothing, he'll never be anything more than a scrawny little loser dork!"

The words sounded a little harsh, even to Kevin, but he'd never apologize. Nazz turned around, her face filled with anger, no doubt to give Kevin a piece of her mind, but Edd stopped her. He placed a shaky hand on her arm and shook his head, never looking up.

"I-it's okay Nazz, K-K-Kevin's right…just go…please," he said softly, his voice barely audible towards the end. Nazz bit her lip, unsure of what to do. Quickly she leaned forward and pulled the scrawny boy into a fierce hug before letting go and saying, "Don't listen to 'em Double Dee. You're more than that!"

Edd nodded to himself, pulling his beanie down further on his face and began to slowly gather his books into a large pile on the ground. Kevin watched him pick up the books weakly, wobbling slightly as he stood.

"What a loser," he muttered, slinging his arm around Nazz once again as they walked out of the school building together, with nothing on their minds but summer.


	2. Chapter 1: One Year Later

"Hey Kevin!"

"'Sup Nazz," the boy said smoothly, leaning in to give his best friend a kiss on the cheek. Of course they'd seen each other during the start of summer, but she'd gone away to some music camp for the last month and Kevin really missed her. Sure, he'd had Nat by his side, but it wasn't the same. "How was camp?"

"Awesome dude! I met some really great people, and the camp director said if I get back in next summer, there'll be a record deal waiting for me," Nazz gushed, grabbing both of Kevin's hands in hers as she pushed herself up on her tippy toes in excitement. Kevin laughed happily.

"That's great Nazz! Don't forget me when you're famous, alright?" Before she even had a chance to answer, Nat joined the duo, placing an arm around Kevin's shoulders.

"Yeah Nazz, don't forget me either. I can tour with you, you know. All your little fan girls can follow me on twitter and check out my blog, maybe even - "

"Shut up Nat," Kevin playfully pushed the boy away from him while Nazz giggled.

"No one's forgetting anyone, okay?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the school doors opened with a loud clank, catching everyone's attention. What really got everyone's attention, or at least the attention of the upperclassmen, was who came walking in.

"Whoa," Nazz breathed, "Speaking of forgetting people, isn't that Double Dee? Wow dude, I haven't seen him in over a year. He looks…good."

"Wait, that's Double Dee, as in, Double Dork?" Nat said, his face twisted in confusion.

Kevin couldn't seem to take his eyes off the boy who'd just walked in. He'd stopped to talk to Ed and Eddy, seeming a bit out of place now. He was tall, almost as tall as Kevin who stood at six foot one last time he'd checked. He'd gotten rid of his old black white striped beanie but replaced it with a light gray one, to match his gray skinny jeans. Along with a gray and black plaid shirt and black converse, Double Dee looked almost…normal.

Kevin turned back to Nat who looked at him and shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Hey, Double Dee!" Nat screeched unnecessarily loud. Edd's head snapped up to the old name and a lazy smile overcame his face as he started to easily walk over to them. No more wide scared eyes, no more twitching, no more trembling. What had happened to him?

Edd caught Kevin's disbelieving eye and smiled privately, as if reading his mind, and nodded slightly. "Greetings, Kevin," he drawled out, like he was even too cool to grace mankind with his voice. Kevin startled; what was once a nerdy vocabulary now just added to Double Dee's mysterious, brooding image. It was overwhelming.

"Double Dee, oh my gosh, it's been like, what? A little over a year now? Dude, how've you been man?" Nazz rambled, throwing her arms around Edd's waist in a quick embrace. Now that he was closer, Kevin could see the faintest trail of black eyeliner around Double Dee's eyes, as well as two small studs that pierced his ears. Usually, Kevin would have found this look unappealing, maybe would have even made fun of someone for looking like this. However, Edd pulled it off like the look was made for him and him alone, as if he was some dark God that appeared before them.

"I've been quite well, thank you Nazz. And how are all of you doing? What have I missed in my absence?" Edd went on to say, pulling out of Nazz's arms after a moment or two.

"We've all been good, I guess. I mean, it was weird that you weren't there. We missed you! Where were you? They sold your house, did you move or somethin'?" Nazz went on to interrogate, and Edd's smile widened.

"My parents expanded their business, and moved their office to New York City. While I was there I joined a program for science of course, and was able to travel around the entire nation while they worked. They stayed there, but I decided to move back and live with my mother's sister. I guess I missed you all, too," Double Dee turned his smile towards Nat and Kevin who both smiled back hesitantly. "It was nice chatting with you, but I must excuse myself. I don't want to be tardy to home room."

After that the trio watched silently as the ex dork retrieved down the hall, every pair of eyes on him.

"So…that's the guy you used to pick on? Seriously Kevin? I mean, he's kind of hot, you know, for a dude."

Kevin groaned, "Ugh, shut up Nat!"

It was later that same day that Kevin realized he and Double Dee had a few classes together, one of them being English, Kevin's worst subject. Their summer reading assignment had been Macbeth, which equaled complete and utter crap to Kevin. Who could even understand Shakespeare, really. It totally wasn't Kevin's fault if he just didn't understand English from like a billion years ago, and the plot was completely lame and predictable in Kevin's book. Still, that didn't stop him from feeling anxious. He knew people thought he was stupid, which, yeah, maybe. But underneath that, he was actually pretty smart. This English class though, this was going to kill him. And make him look like an ass, especially in front of Double Dee. Wait, in front of -

"Well Eddward, welcome back. How was your year without us?" Mr. Lancastor started with, probably making Double Dee feel even more uncomfortable than he already had. Kevin was ready to hear the kid stutter out an answer and shake violently before every eye was off him. That didn't happen.

Edd smiled smally to himself, and Kevin hadn't already been staring, he wouldn't have caught it. "It was divine, Mr. L, purely scientific nirvana. That's not to say I didn't miss things here though."

"I should hope not, Eddward," Mr. Lancastor sighed, and went on with his lecture about the play. After almost an entire half hour of hearing Mr. Lancastor talk in his monotone voice, the class was given a short break when the old man raised a question. "Do you think Macbeth created his own destiny or were all the events determined by fate?"

Of course Kevin had an opinion on the topic, anyone with a brain would. That doesn't mean he was going to be the person to answer though. Looking around, Kevin noted that most, if not all, the students in the class were half asleep or distracted. He was about to give in and raise his hand when he caught sight of Double Dee leaning back even further in his chair and smoothly lifting his hand, as if it were a well practiced dance move.

"Yes, Eddward?"

"In my understanding of the text, Macbeth was a victim of fate. All of the events were predetermined by a greater force as if he were a mere pawn on a chessboard." The worlds were given without much enthusiasm, much to the contrary of the Double Dork Kevin used to know.

What had changed? Where had Edd really gone? Okay sure, there was that story that he told Naz in the hallway. Was that the truth though? If his parents moved out to New York, why would he want to come back to this leftover excuse of a town? And why hadn't he contacted anyone? Ed and Eddy walk around like lost puppies for a year; if Edd was really just "traveling around" couldn't he have stopped by for a visit? Something was just not adding up. Not that Kevin actually cared -

"Kevin? Is there a problem? Is there something you would like to add to Eddward's statement?" Mr. Lancastor asked, and only then had Kevin realized he was staring at Double Dee - no, more like openly glaring at the kid. Kevin cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck to buy some time. What had Edd even said?

"Uh…yes sir. I, uh. Well - I think it could be argued that Macbeth created his own destiny. For example, the scene where Macbeth has Macduff's family slaughtered and in turn fules Macduff to seek revenge, in the end resulting in Macbeth's death. If Macbeth had left Macduff's family alone to begin with, Malcolm would have attempted to slay Macbeth, and the latter might have come out alive after all."

Their teacher seemed utterly shocked, as did the rest of the class. However, Double Dee continued to look straight ahead, didn't even squirm when he felt Kevin's stare. Maybe he just doesn't care anymore, Kevin thought.

"Hmm. Very well, I'll see you all tomorrow! Be ready for group discussions people," Mr. Lancastor said as the bell rang and students literally tripped over their own feet to get out of the classroom. Sheesh, it's only the first day!

Kevin had planned on hunting Double Dee down as they left the classroom, but surprisingly, he was the first one out. The ginger boy found himself at a standstill in the middle of a crowded hallway, not a dork, or ex dork, in sight.

Kevin was out of breath and panting, wiping sweat off his forehead with his jersey before he pulled it off his torso completely. His skin was damp and pricking with heat. Only half way into practice and his team was already losing. This can't happen.

I just have to make this foul shot and we'll be back in business, Kevin thought, grasping the basket ball in his hand and bringing it up, his form flawless. Right as he pushed the ball out of his hands, someone opened the gym door loudly, causing Kevin's eyes to flicker to the culprit, losing his aim for a fraction of a second. The ball hit the rim and bounced off, every member of his team groaning.

"Come on Kev, get it together!" one of his team mates shouted as they ran down to the other side of the court. Kevin ground his teeth together, watching the swim team enter the gym nonchalantly. They'd costed him his damn foul shot, the freaking losers! The worst part was that Double Dee was with them, tilting his head back as the group suddenly burst into laughter. So he's a swim jock now, huh? Kevin outwardly growled.

"Yo, dude, you cool?" Nat asked, running over to shove Kevin in an affectionate way. He'd eyed the glare the other boy had been giving Edd, and hoped this would just fizzle out. Kevin jerked away from his best friend.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just finish the game."

One thing stood clear in Kevin's mind as he jogged to join the rest of his teammates: he was going to figure out what was going on with Double Dork, one way or another.


End file.
